SportsPsychologist.com Blog by Dr Victor Thompson

It has been ages since I posted on my blog. This is something that I would like to remedy. Rest assured, this is not because I've been out of action in the world of Sports Psychology or simply idle. I've been busy seeing clients and helping them to bounce back or develop their psychological armoury. I've also provided plenty of sport psychology comment to journalists who have been seeking an psychological understanding in relation to an athlete. With Wimbledon tennis tournament on, I provided some comment on how players perform under pressure and manage the big occasion. The journalist was interested in what the rest of us can learn from the Wimbledon players on how to perform in our own sports and non-sports settings. Plus, how playing tennis can be a good thing for developing psychological skills for life. One of the less usual requests came from the world of eSports - computer gaming. It was very interesting to be interviewed by one of the UK's eSports

If we believe that what we are doing (or taking) is having a positive impact on performance or recovery (and then performance), then to stop would mean harming performance and who wants to do worse or make things more difficult? There is pressure to perform well: From sponsors, team management, team mates, and the public/fans. Can you perform up to those expectations, live with the consequences of not meeting those expectations, or will you give in to the temptation of taking something illegal to give you more confidence in your performance? The fear of failure is a strong one. There are personal and professional needs to be satisfied. Athletes are competitive. Some have a strong need to be successful, gain glory, be seen on TV, be accepted, praised, beat a key rival, show that our training has been worth it, that we are as good as or better than before... It’s tempting then to take something that would help us deliver and satisfy these needs. We believe that others are doing it

What do professional cyclists think when they approach a climb? This depends on how they perceive their climbing ability, the challenge of the upcoming climb, the importance of their performance on this climb and their current sense of fatigue. If they perceive that they have the skills to do well on the climb, based on the gradient and length of the climb and the relative abilities of others, then they will approach with confidence. If instead, they believe that they don’t have that great an ability, then they may have some anxiety, trepidation, and worry with thoughts along the lines of: “This is going to hurt.” “I’m not good at this.” “I’ll get dropped.” So, how would a good climber approach a climb?   A confident rider approaches feeling calmer, more ready for the challenge, perhaps even welcoming and relishing it. They see it as a good test or a good part of the course. They may be thinking along the lines of: “Yeah, here it comes. Bring it on. This is my terrain. I’m

Football World Cup 2014, 8 th June 2014, semi-final Germany 7 – Brazil 1 What a match! As a sports psychologist, who's worked with footballers at different levels, I really enjoyed the match. Here's what I saw: 0-0  The beginning. For Brazil there was such hope. When they had possession of the ball, the crowd cheered, and most of the stadium was a sea of Brazilian yellow and green. For Germany, they played equally well as Brazil, but the crowd was not willing them to do well or win. 1-0 Germany scored, Brazil looked surprised, their supporters looked surprised, the pressure increased for Brazil.  The Germans gained momentum after the first goal and looked more in control. 2-0    When Germany scored the second goal, the Brazilian players and fans looked shocked. How could this be happening? Is this really happening? What do we do? For Germany, their momentum and confidence grew. 3-0    After the 3 rd German goal, the Germans played with more confidence a

It is a shame that on big occasions, when things aren't going your way, some will not manage the emotions of frustration or anger and lash-out. When they don't get a corrective response straight away - like being pulled off the pitch and then sanctioned - fans, including children, learn that this is probably okay. The behaviour today of role models such as Luis Suarez will be reflected on football pitches, school playgrounds and streets tomorrow. Anger management can help, but does Suarez want to change? If not, there will be no change in behaviour. Why does anger happen for top players such as Luis Suarez? Because the setting is important to them, their performance is key to the outcome and they perceive that they are heading towards and undesirable outcome. That within an individual with poor self control creates a dynamite situation. For me, this echos the Zinedine Zidane situation in the previous World Cup final.

With the not-to-surprising news that Paula Radcliffe has withdrawn from the Olympic Marathon due to a foot injury , I thought again about why this happens. For Paula’s fans, it is disappointing – though it will be much more gutting for Paula. Some of our most vivid memories of Paula are of Athens in 2004, where she stopped at the 36Km mark of the Olympic Marathon in floods of tears. Doesn’t it seem obvious to us all that athletes should just avoid becoming injured, when injuries can rule them out of competing at their best, or even competing at all? If this is obvious for us fans, why then don’t athletes ‘get it’? I believe the answer to this is that injuries aren’t always clear to an athlete and important factors get in the way of an athlete managing potential or actual injuries. Plus, this situation is compounded during an Olympic year. First of all, what is an injury? An easy example is something that stops an athlete, such as a runner, from running. Okay, but what